Y1
← CoursesCourseThe first door · Year 3 · 13 lessons · 40 min

Fix & flip: the operator's path

Turn houses nobody wants into paychecks nobody argues with. Twelve lessons from zero capital to a repeatable renovation machine — the math, the money, the crews, and the mistakes you get to skip.

01

Foundations — mindset & the game

  1. 01The flipper's mindset: what this business actually requires of youAlmost half of first flips lose money — and the difference between the half that don't isn't luck or capital. It's five mindsets, installed before the first offer. Start here, honestly.4 min
  2. 02The business you're actually enteringFlipping is manufacturing equity on a deadline — see the whole machine before you touch a wrench, and know exactly what a flip can (and can't) do for your twenty-year plan.3 min
  3. 03Where to start if you don't have capitalNo savings is a starting position, not a disqualification — four proven on-ramps that convert hustle into your first flip fund, ranked by speed, skill-building, and how directly they feed the machine.3 min
  4. 04The 60-second deal screen: napkin math & your maximum offerMAO = ARV × 70% − repairs. Learn to run it in your head at a stoplight, know exactly where the missing 30% goes, and never again wonder whether a lead deserves your evening.3 min
02

Find it & fund it

  1. 05Finding deals that actually pencilDeals at 70 cents on the dollar don't sit on the MLS waiting — build your two-channel acquisition pipeline and let the county's own paperwork tell you who needs to sell.3 min
  2. 06ARV without the optimism taxComp like the appraiser who will eventually judge your flip — the five filters, the median-of-three discipline, and the habit that catches a $15k error before it becomes your $15k.3 min
  3. 07Funding the flip: hard money, private money, and the cheaper doorsSpeed capital is priced by the month and earned by the exit — how flip financing actually works, what it truly costs on your deal, and the owner-occupied loopholes that cut the price in half.3 min
03

Run the renovation

  1. 08Scoping the rehab: the 30-minute walk-through that prices a houseFive systems, two money rooms, and a per-room rate — the walk-through method that lands within 15% of final cost, plus the walk-away signals that save you from the houses that eat flippers.3 min
  2. 09Advanced job costing: the scope of work that runs the whole projectLine items, quantities, allowances, and build order — turn your walk-through into the document that gets you comparable bids, honest draws, and a variance file that makes every future estimate sharper.3 min
  3. 10Contractors, draws, and staying in controlThree bids on one scope, work before money, changes in writing, and a weekly walk — the people system that prevents the #1 cause of first-flip losses without turning you into anyone's adversary.3 min
04

Exit, keep, scale

  1. 11Speed is profit: carrying costs and the calendarEvery month your flip sits, roughly $2,000 walks out — see exactly where the bleed comes from, compress the three phases that actually slip, and learn the season math that sells houses in weeks instead of quarters.3 min
  2. 12The exit: selling at retail — or refusing toPrice for the multiple-offer weekend, stage for the photos that create it, survive the buyer's inspector — and know before you ever bought whether this flip's best exit was actually keeping it.3 min
  3. 13Taxes, entities, and turning flips into a machineFlip profits are taxed like a job — structure like a business, keep the S-corp and dealer-status traps in view, and graduate on purpose: pipeline, spec building, lending, or the rentals this was always for.3 min